Donut-Shaped Skyscraper Dominates Chinese Skyline [Pics]

A newly completed donut-shaped building called the Guangzhou Circle is turning heads and carving out a new architectural identity for Guangzhou and for China as a whole. The skyscraper, which is 50 meters in diameter and 33 stories tall and borders the Pearl River, is the headquarters of Chinese companies Guangdong Hongda Xingye Group and GDPE Guangdong Plastic Exchange and will also offer additional office space and a shopping mall for visitors. “The architectural concept is for a building that will be immediately perceived as a native Chinese landmark using a closed and central structure instead of the usual western skyscrapers stereotype,” said the architect, Joseph di Pasquale of AM Project in Milan.

Di Pasquale says he was inspired by traditional Chinese propitiatory objects, such as jade-ring necklaces, as well as the number 8, which is auspicious in Chinese culture (and which is formed when the reflection of the building hits the adjoining river). He added the building is close to the “Chinese way of perceiving and understanding” as a closed, central structure as opposed to a stereotypical Western skyscraper. But the project also has many influences from di Pasquale’s Italy, including the Italian Renaissance tradition of ‘squaring the circle.’ The way the suspended groups of floors are assembled around the edge of the building – eventually cantilevering out over the street at an extreme 25 meters – reflect this, as well as the way the ‘heart’ of the building rests just below the central void and its unique raised gardens. Di Pasquale hopes it can become a shorthand logo for the city, much like a Chinese ideogram.